Chapter 5 - The Missing Evidence
My heart stopped completely as the gruff night janitor stared us down.
I envisioned immediate expulsion, furious parents, and a permanent stain on my permanent record.
Jake slowly raised his hands in surrender, stepping away from the open desk drawer.
"Mr. Higgins, please, we can explain everything," Jake pleaded, his voice trembling slightly.
To our utter shock, the old janitor did not press the button on his walkie-talkie.
Instead, he walked into the room, gently closed the door behind him, and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"I clean this room every single night," Mr. Higgins said quietly, leaning on his mop handle.
"I hear the way that woman speaks to you kids during the day, and I see the envelopes of cash she leaves in her trash can."
He walked over to the desk, slammed the bottom drawer shut, and gave us a stern look.
"If you steal that ledger now, she will instantly know it was one of you, and she will destroy you both before the principal even reads it," he warned.
Mr. Higgins told us to get out of the building and find a smarter way to catch her in the act.
We thanked him profusely and sprinted off the school grounds, feeling incredibly lucky to have escaped.
However, our close call only made Mrs. Keller more paranoid and vindictive over the next few weeks.
The crucial midterm exam finally arrived, carrying the weight of half our semester grade.
I spent three sleepless nights studying until my eyes burned, determined to pass on my own merit.
When the test day came, I carefully filled out every single equation, feeling a rare surge of genuine confidence.
I proudly placed my completed exam directly onto the center of her desk before walking out of the room.
Two days later, Mrs. Keller stood at the front of the classroom, handing back the graded papers.
She walked past my desk without placing anything down, a wicked, triumphant smirk playing on her lips.
When the bell rang, I approached her desk and nervously asked for my test score.
She looked at me with cold, calculating eyes and aggressively tapped her long fingernails against the wood.
"You never turned in an exam, which results in an automatic zero for the midterm," she stated loudly enough for the stragglers to hear.
I panicked, aggressively pointing at the exact spot where I had left my paper.
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She leaned in close, her breath smelling of bitter coffee, and whispered a terrifying threat.
"I make the rules in this room, and I have decided that you are going to fail."
